Dragon Beat
by Also Sprach Mina
Summary: Artifacts of a continent lost in time, the spirits of dragons slumber silently...only to be awakened by the souls who resonate with them. Can they stop the one who wishes to control everyone and everything?


**Chapter One: Shaky Start**

"Good god, I'm **LATE!**"

It was a bright, sunny morning in Tokyo, Japan. The sun was rising into the blue sky as people left their homes for work and school. A black-haired girl with crimson bangs ran down the sidewalk, moving through a small crowd of students who went in the opposite direction. This girl happened to wake up on her first day in a new school after she transfered from a boarding school in the U.S. Her dark hair was messy on one side, her white blouse untucked, and her loose red tie not tied. The girl rounded a corner as she grabbed onto a pole and swung herself over two business men who were startled at her sudden appearance.

"What in the--?" a man with dark red hair exclaimed seeing her land behind them.

"Excuse me!" She bowed to them lowly. "But is this the way to Todo Academy?" she asked in a breathless voice. The red-haired man nodded, pointing behind her. "You're headed in the right direction, miss--"

"**GOOD, THANK YOU**."

The girl turned and ran off down the sidewalk, leaving the businessmen in complete confusion.

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After running for 10 minutes, the girl finally arrived at her new school campus: Todo Academy. It was a large school with hints of traditional Japanese buildings built onto it; its gates adorned with the bronze statue of Ieyasu Tokugawa. She looked up at the statues in awe. Her mother said that it was a beautiful school, even in spring time. She blinked out of her trance as she saw the students walking into the building, squeaking lightly. "_Fack_, I forgot!" The black-haired girl ran past several students and ran into the building.

This girl was introduced to her class as Maki Kamiya, a first year transfer student from the U.S. She had shoulder length black hair; her crimson colored bangs over her right eye. She bowed to the students before standing back up to smile widely with a small hint of pink on her cheeks. "Thank you for accepting me here." Within time, Maki had gotten used to her homeroom even if the teacher was a bit strange. He acted like a normal teacher should--given the lesson, went over the lesson, and so on--but what he had told her before she sat down...

"Listen, Kamiya. I don't really care if you get into a fight outside of my classroom. Just try not to kill someone, alright?" He smiled at her. "Hope you enjoy your stay at the academy."

"Y-yes sir," she said with a bewildered look.

Maki was still confused by his words but brushed it off as ramblings of a middle-aged teacher. Then again, she did hear rumors about students trained in the martial arts attended the school. She ran her fingers through her hair before resting her head down on the desk. _So far, so good_, she thought to herself nibbling on her bottom lip. _Nothing bad's happening...maybe this'll be a good day--even if I was late on the first day._

Suddenly, the door slid open as a male student stood in the doorway, breathing heavily. The class turned their heads to the boy. The teacher looked to the boy with them, asking, "What the hell do you want?! I'm teaching a class!"

"There's....a...fight," he managed to say. "In the Junior Wing....two freshmen are beating up on them!" The class stood up from their desks and ran out of the classroom; leaving a confused Maki in her seat. "A...fight?"

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The black-haired girl ran after her class as she saw a crowd of students already there, most of them from the junior wing classrooms. She heard blows being thrown along with the grunts and shouts of those being attacked. Maki ran over to the crowd as she tried to see the fight by standing on her tip-toes or jumping. _I can't see...!_ She knelt down then crawled through the legs of the bystanders, making her way to the center. She yelled "excuse me" and "pardon me" to those who had been touched when she went under them.

She finally made it to the center, yelping when a body went past her line of vision. _What in the--?_

She watched two boys dressed in male uniforms--one tall foreign looking boy and a short blond boy (whose coat was red on the inside--as they fought against other boys who had wooden swords or using their fists to defend themselves. The blond boy grabbed another by the collar of his coat, throwing him into a group behind him. The foreign boy went onto his hands and spun his legs around; kicking several boys in the chin or jaw.

"W-why are they fighting?" she asked aloud only to be pushed aside. She stumbled back into someone to see a brown-haired boy carrying a wooden sword against his shoulder move past her as a tiny girl with long lavender hair jumped off his shoulder.

"Hey, you brats. I understand that you young masters are very strong," the girl said to the battle-enthralled boys. "But put away your fists over there already. Otherwise, I'll feel obliged to take you on myself." The blond boy glanced back at the girl who smiled smugly. "I'll tell you now: I'm strong." He raised an eyebrow, turning his head to the foreign boy beating up on some random boy. "Bob. Some elementary school kid who talks like an old man wants to fight with us. What should you do in this situation?"

"Dunno," Bob replied before roundhouse kicking another boy behind him in the throat. The little girl fumed at them, growling softly. "But I'm 17 years old!!" She sighed and raised her hand above her head and closed her eyes. "Well, ok. If you say you don't like my appearance...I'll change it so it's a bit easier to fight!"

Maki raised a dark eyebrow then suddenly sensed a shift in the girl's ki as the girl began to chant in ancient Chinese. A couple of boys behind her cheered and clapped their hands.

"Oh! Here it comes!" one yelled.

"I've been waiting for this!" another exclaimed.

The black-haired girl glanced at them. _Waiting for...what?_ She turned back only to rear her head back in shock to see the tiny girl before turn into a well endowed 17-year-old girl who now held a wooden sword in her hands. "So...Todo Academy Junior, introducing the _Natsume True Strength_ technique, Maya Natsume has arrived."

The blond boy stood in both shock and awe, continuing to stare at the grown-up little girl. "...Bob," he said. "What would you do if that elementary school kid transforms into a completely sexy babe?"

"Dunno," the foreign boy said dodging a surprise attack. Maya simply chuckled as she stood up from her kneeling position. "_Natsume-Style Form Refinement_ _Technique_. If you become an expert as I, you shouldn't have any problem with this kind of body manipulation." The blond boy watched the lavender-haired girl move gracefully across the floor. "Today, we're going to have a welcoming party for the new members and go to karaoke now," she said grinning. "Sorry, but I'm going to end this crap right now."

Everyone barely had enough time to watch as Maya appeared in front of the boy, swinging her wooden sword from the right side then slammed it into the blond's stomach hard....and sent him flying right out the window. Maki stood with her mouth agap along with the other spectators in shock. The lavender-haired girl's eye twitched. _Oh...shit_, she thought. _I miscalcuated his strength....didn't think he'd go flying like that..._ She ran over to the window and looked down to see a large hole in the roof of a building.

"Hey, are you okay, brat? You still alive?!" A faint yet pained yell could be heard from the hole. The foreign boy walked over to Maya, looking down at the building as well. "Don't worry about it," he told her. "He's not so weak that he'd die from a fall from this height." She looked at him then back at the hole; her eye continuing to twitch.

_No...not that! What I'm worried about is that...I'm sure that's the shower room..._

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Ever since that event, Maki had heard that the blond boy--who she found out his name was Souichiro Nagi, a freshman like her--was being chased around Todo Academy by Maya's younger sister, Aya, and was calling him her "husband".

_May god help that boy_, she thought to herself.

She sighed gently now realizing that she was somewhere she wasn't supposed to be. During lunch, the black-haired girl was walking past the library only to glance at a brochure of the school on a bookshelf near the door and grabbed it. She opened it as she began to read it, sitting down on a bench down the hall. The paper had a picture of students--male and female--on the cover dressed in the uniforms. All of them with seemingly fake smiles on their faces. It read:

'**Welcome to Todo Academy, new student/freshman of the new year! We hope you enjoy your stay here in our prestigious school. We have many clubs/after-school activities for you to pick from ranging from archery to wrestling.**'

"...Archery and Wrestling?" Maki continued to read.

'**Here is a list of clubs for newcomers to look into:**

**- Medical Club**

**- Archery Club**

**- Boxing Club**

**- Karate Club**

**- Wrestling Club...**'

She blinked a few times before realizing (the irony of it all) that most of the clubs were clubs that introduced fighting, healing and the like. She continued to read off the list until she came at the bottom of it: **Juken Club**. The black-haired girl stood up from the bench as she took out a pen from her shirt pocket and circled it. With that, she ran in the opposite direction of the hallway; clutching the brochure in her hand.

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Maya Natsume (in her child form) sat outside a traditional Japanese dojo which was attached to the modern-day built school. Beside her rested a bokken, a wooden sword used in kendo matches. She took a sip of her green tea as she looked up at the cherry blossoms that were on either side of the stone pathway. She set the cup down on its coaster, moving some of her lavender hair from her face. She looked up again to see a black-haired female standing on the pathway; breathing heavily.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" she asked standing up. "Aren't you supposed to be in class?" Maki took a deep breath before bowing to the lavender-haired girl. "I...this is where the Juken Club is, right?" Maya raised her eyebrows at the girl's words before walking down the small flight of stairs. "Are there...qualifications to join?"

The small girl smiled gently as she placed her hands on her hips. "So! What do they call you, freshman?"

"It's Maki...Maki Kamiya," she said standing upright. She watched Maya tilt her head and fold her arms.

"And what makes you want to join my club?" she asked. The black-haired girl bit her bottom lip, scratching her cheek gently. "Well...I-I wanted to join...so I can improve my skill, really.." The lavender-haired girl nodded in response before looking at Maki up and down. "Your skill, hm?"

"Yes...I've been studying aikido for a while now...and I want to, well, strengthen it." She nodded gently. "Alright...but unfortunately, I have to work tonight," Maya said with a sigh. The black-haired girl blinked her deep blue eyes twice. "Um, work?"

"I think you were there at the fight on the Junior floor, weren't you? Anyway, me and those two freshmen have to pay off the damages. Sucks for me, don't you think?"

"Considering they were in the wrong," she began, "you were just stopping the fight, really..." The lavender-haired girl chuckled lightly as she walked past the female freshman. "Come see me tomorrow when you get the chance, Kamiya. We can talk more then. Run back to class now, you here?"

"Right. Thank you...um.."

"It's Maya Natsume," the little girl said before walking off and leaving Maki to the sound of the wind blowing through the trees.

_End of Chapter One_

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_**Notes**_: I'm doing my best to **not **make Maki Kamiya into a Mary Sue (I've been told that Shane and Lena even Misa were Mary Sues) so think of this as practice.

And yes, I'm up to date with the Tenjho Tenge manga (read Chp. 122). I'll encorporate elements of Legend of Dragoon into the storyline (mainly elements [fire, water, wind, etc.] and transformations--which would be shortened and not drawn out).

_Teaser for_ **Chapter Two: Tokyo Museum Chaos**: _"Y-you..._**little jerk!**_ I'm not skinny at all!" she screamed not controlling the volume of her voice. "I happen to stay on a strict diet regime and I only weigh 140 pounds!"_


End file.
